Chatoyant College Book 7: Upon What Soil

Chapter 23: Sleeping

Corrie stared at Dawn for a few minutes. Her brain was failing to come up with anything useful to do now. Finally she reached out and, without much hope, shook Dawn's shoulder. She continued to sleep. Corrie grabbed her discarded bracelet and shook Dawn again, but just like before, there was no reaction.

"I don't know if waking her up is even a good idea," said Naomi. "If the spell or drug or whatever made her sick, she might just need to sleep it off."

Corrie sighed. "You're right. But what do we do? Other people might get sick."

"They might not even notice. I mean, I don't know if you were aware, but there were a lot of people at the party who got high on purpose. Her symptoms weren't that different from theirs." Naomi grinned.

"But are they going to suddenly fall asleep like this? She didn't seem tired or anything. They're going to get freaked out if people at the party start falling asleep."

"I guess that's true. All right." Naomi got her phone out of her pocket. "I'll call Dina." She dialed, then got up, pacing the room.

Corrie continued to watch Dawn, trying to think of what they could do to get the faerie magic to stop affecting Dawn. Would clovers and iron work on her? Of course, they used them for external protection, which she already seemed to have... but it was worth a try. She pressed her steel bracelet against Dawn's arm.

Almost instantly, Dawn flinched away from Corrie, pulling her arm away from the bracelet and grabbing it with her other hand. But when the bracelet lost contact with her skin, she relaxed again, though she didn't let go of her arm. The whole time, her eyes didn't open. Corrie tried to push her hand away from her other arm, but there didn't appear to be a mark.

Naomi paced back to their side of the room, lowered her phone, and frowned. "What happened?"

"I just tried to put a bracelet on her and it looks like it hurt her. She didn't wake up, though." Corrie looked up at Naomi. "Any luck?"

She shook her head. "I'll try calling Jerry."

Corrie stood up to get her four-leaf clover out of her pocket. Being more careful this time, she touched it gently to Dawn's skin. Dawn once again flinched away without waking up, but not as violently.

"Jerry!" Naomi sounded very relieved that he'd picked up. Corrie looked up hopefully and listened to their conversation. "Sorry, I can't. My roommate's sick. I think there was something in her candy. All she could tell me was that she had chocolate and something sour. She's asleep now. Yeah, I think so too. Thanks a lot. Sure, I'll do that. Bye." She hung up and sighed, though she was still smiling. "Well, he's going to talk to Dina—she's basically in charge and she might talk to the other organizers—but he figured the same thing as me, that it's too late and most people won't care anyway."

Corrie shook her head. "I think it might be dangerous beyond just the appearance of being high, though. I mean, that faerie was acting awfully possessive. What if he tries to take somebody home with him?" Nervous, she got up and looked out the window, but the moon didn't illuminate much besides the tops of the trees. If the faerie had followed them, he would be on the other side of the building anyway.

Naomi nodded. "We should try to do something about him. That would be more effective than trying to get rid of the candy. Didn't one of the professors help out when that guy was after Edie?"

"You're right. We should talk to Professor Lal." Corrie re-attached her bracelet as she thought. Even if Dawn woke up and ignored her, she'd feel better being protected when they left. "I guess the best thing would be to bring Dawn to Professor Lal, but I don't think we can carry her together. I'll see if Edie or anybody is home."

"Right. I'll watch her." Naomi sat down cross-legged on her bed, across the small room from Dawn.

Corrie went next door, but wasn't surprised when her roommate was nowhere to be found, or when she didn't answer her phone. She was, after all, spending the evening with her girlfriend. Corrie put on her other bracelet, then tried Annie, and then Roe, but they weren't home. She ran downstairs and tried Lorelei, then, finally, Charlie, who was home—and probably, when she thought about it, the best option anyway. She explained the situation to him as quickly as possible. "Can you help us get her to Professor Lal?"

"Sure," he said, raising his eyebrows. "Wouldn't a doctor be better, though?"

"I don't think so. Iron affects her in this state, so I'm pretty sure it has to be some kind of magic, not a drug. Even if Professor Lal doesn't know what to do, she should be able to get to the guy who did it. Or who was taking advantage of it, anyway."

He waved at her. "Slow down. I'll help. I can probably carry her on my own. You two just show me where to go."